Hey everyone!
If you haven’t heard this is the first year for the Camas based middle school, The Gryphons. It opened this fall to 120 students who are learning lessons and meeting state standards in a project based learning environment. I got to check out the campus and sit down with the principal Aaron Smith to talk about how this school is doing and what is on the horizon. What an amazing and wonderful option for our youth here in Camas. Listen in and see what you think!
Just a Girl in Camas
501(C) 3 non-profit organization founded in 2013 which helps connect people and business in the community of Camas, Washington.
Thank you for this information! Project-based learning is the application of the Montessori philosophy for the adolescent mind (beginning the “third plane of development”). Middle school minds crave peer interaction, and PBL uses peer interaction to motivate students and make learning fun.
Two other reasons why PBL is so good for the blossoming middle school minds: “Choice is also one of the strongest factors influencing motivation to read among middle school students. . . Capitalizing on their newfound reasoning abilities allows teachers to provide challenges, projects and presentations that students can take on enthusiastically.” (from montessorirocks.org). Turning kids into lifelong learners is a strategy for success, which explains the success of the “Montessori Mafia” (google it).
Thanks again, and I hope my child will be able to get into the High School Program! (Side note – I hope the new HS has its own athletic department so kids do not have to be Division I level athletes to be able to get some playing time. This has become a hot topic for those with athletic middle schoolers considering their next steps.)
Fun to see! I’m a one-time Camas girl, too! My dad helped run Crown Zee back in the 50’s, tho when I was orphaned by ’62, I had to move to relatives in CA. Would have graduated in ’67. We lived right next to the Camas cemetery, and I had a notorious St. Bernard who would gallop into funerals if we didn’t stop her. Have buckets of old pix!!
I’m a retired educator, too. Have taught everything from Pre-school to university & have lived in Mt. Shasta now for 40 yrs…best wishes!
Marlin Martin might be an interesting interview for you – He is a retired math / science teacher who spends a lot of time volunteering at the Flight School at Pierson Airpark. He loves to build project’iles for his hands on teaching at the air park and UW Annex in Vancouver…
His email: Marlin@sciencedude.net